Sue Baker's view...

April 2011 Non-Fiction Book of the Month.

On arriving in Nepal Conor Grennan found a desperate situation, thousands of children separated from their homeland and families, many victims of Maoist guerrillas and most shockingly – of child traffickers. His original two months of volunteering turns into a lifetimes work. Determined to reunite the children in his care with their families he undertakes a fearsome journey to the most remote regions of Nepal. Vividly told, his dangerous trek to reach tiny mountain villages is successful in finding many of the children’s families. The plight of the children in a country with no social safety net is dire and the work goes on to save them from beggary and servitude, Connor Grennan is one of the good guys, his book a ray of hope for Nepal.

A truly inspirational story that began as a 3 month stint volunteering in the Little Princes Orphanage in war-torn Nepal which transformed the life of a rather privileged and spoilt single American Conor Grennan. Drama, love, child trafficking and corruption make this compulsive reading as Conor finds himself risking life and limb to save the children he had come to love as his own. This incredible true story combines the drama of Into Thin Air with the compassion of Three Cups of Tea.

...and a comment from a Lovereading member:

I'd like to save a mafahoosive thank you for the recommendation of 'Little Princes' by Conor Grennan (non-fic read of the month). I bought a copy as I am going to Nepal next week and have been alternately laughing and sobbing my way through it in the staff room!”

Win a signed copy by Dame Vera Lynn

Three very lucky winners will each receive a signed copy by Dame Vera Lynn and her daughter Virginia of Dame Vera Lynn's memoir - Keep Smiling Through; My Wartime Story - written with her daughter Virginia Lewis-Jones, together with a DVD of the birthday concert held in her honour to celebrate her 100th birthday earlier this year.

To have a chance of winning this fantastic prize, click the button below. Please note that this draw is open only for UK residents and is free to enter, multiple entries from the same email address will only be counted once.

The draw closes on 15 December 2017. The winners will be notified by 15th December 2017, and you should get your prize in time for Christmas.

Synopsis

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

So as not to seem completely self-indulgent to his friends and family, Conor started his year-long trip around the world with a three-month stint volunteering in the Little Princes Orphanage in war-torn Nepal. What began as a cover story changed Conor's life, and the lives of countless others, forever. The turning point occurred during Conor's second stint as a volunteer with Little Princes. While playing on the roof of the orphanage, Conor was approached by a woman who would turn out to be the mother of two of the wards. Over hours of conversations with her, Conor learned the truth. Many of the little princes were not orphans but children that had been taken from their homes by child traffickers. In addition to losing two of her boys, this woman, while under the control of a human trafficker, was doing her best to keep seven other terrified kids alive. Conor's life changed in those moments, as he decided to commit himself to these unfortunates. After securing spots in an orphanage for all seven and arranging for an excellent local staff to run the Little Princes Orphanage, Conor escaped Nepal, one day before revolution erupted in Kathmandu. After arriving home, Conor received a devastating email reporting that the seven kids had disappeared, snatched once again by the same trafficker. Soon he was back in Kathmandu, riding through the chaotic streets on the back of a local's motorcycle, searching for his kids, seven needles in a corrupt haystack. And that is where Conor's story begins. Conor pledged to not only start a new orphanage for these seven but also to start an entire new programme dedicated to reuniting kids with their lost families in remote villages in the Nepalese hills. He lived under constant fear of retribution from the traffickers. He needed to return to the US by 22 December, both because that was the agreed-upon panic date on which friends would alert authorities if he didn't return, and because it was the date that the woman he'd fallen in love with over email would arrive at his door so they could, at long last, meet in person. Conor's tale is an epic thriller, and a love story, and is best told by Conor himself.

About the Author

Conor Grennan is the son of Irish poet Eamon Grennan, who has won the PEN Award and published frequently in the New Yorker. He grew up in a house often filled with his father's friends -- Billy Collins and Seamus Heaney. In the autumn of 2004 he started a travel blog to keep in touch with his friends and soon discovered he had inherited his father's passion for writing. With Next Generation Nepal -- the non-profit organisation he set up to rescue trafficked children in Nepal -- still going strong, Conor has now moved back to the US, where he lives with his wife Liz and his baby son.